The Gut Check

Not many people understand the world of pro wrestling, as they either misconstrue it as completely bogus and a mock-sport or they don’t understand it at all. Let me say right out of the blocks, to quote former multi-time WWE/WCW champion Bret Hart, that “pro wrestling is a lot more real than people care to think.”

In this light, I offer up the following perspective read, as Sweden’s hottest rising star “The Beast” came to Finland last week for coaching with Yours Truly before facing transsexual wrestling standout Jessica Love at FCF Wrestling’s Jatkosota 2015 event in Helsinki this past Saturday, May 2.

In the fastest rise that I can personally recall, The Beast is stepping up his game like few others have done to date, making an indelible mark in his wake. As I’ve coached The Beast, I’ve witnessed him develop at an incredible pace.

Beast’s MMA and submission wrestling background, along with his past as a TV Gladiator, has definitely worked in his favor. Beast took a couple of nasty hits in training that would have put any normal man on the sidelines, nearly tearing his latissimus muscle and cracking his spine, but this guy pulled through on sheer focus and guts alone. Talk about Teflon!

My faith in the man rose considerably after I saw him persevere regardless of the immense pain he was in due to the mishaps in training. Beast has shown an great amount of coachability and humility, absorbing his schooling like a sponge. Regardless of his past sporting and media merits, he leaves his ego at the door when it comes to learning the craft of pro wrestling, and that is a very honorable trait. Like legendary Four Horsemen member Arn Anderson once said, “It’s gut check time!”, and every single pro wrestling trainee and active wrestler alike will get to this “gut check” stage in their grappling trek when the pain is so great that you question going on. The Beast had his first serious gut check this past week, and he persevered without flinching or shying away from taking the next step in his training. Read Beast’s blog on the matter (in Swedish) HERE.

This guy is one to watch. I wrote a blog about him over a few weeks back, and it bears to mention that promoters out there should be keeping their eyes open with this big guy. If his heart stays in the game, regardless of whatever setbacks might come his way, he is going to really become something in this game.